This week, the CBE Scroll features a series called “The Parsonage,” written by CBE Intern Krista Wilson, who is currently a student at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. In it, she writes about her experiences living with a group of women who have felt God’s call to minister in the church. Enjoy! Moving into the [...]
Is motherhood a big enough vocation? Seriously? Is this question a joke? Motherhood is a huge vocation, so perhaps a better question might be, “Has motherhood become an all-consuming vocation?” What is vocation? The central idea of vocation is that each person has been created by God with gifts and abilities that are to be [...]
When you have no children and you want them, you tend to notice (and covet) the children of others everywhere. Walking down the streets of Chicago, I’ve seen crack addicts use their kids as selling points for donations from passersby. We’d hear of every tragic family relationship—women tossing children in dumpsters for one—and wonder if [...]
Whenever I talk about androgyny in class, many of my students are surprised to learn what the term encompasses. They have often seen it presented in an unattractive light, believing it to say something about a person’s lack of femininity or masculinity, kind of an elimination of anything that defines an individual as male or [...]
“Where?” I asked Angela (not her real name). Our kids are in the same ballet class. Seated next to her in the parent peanut gallery the other day as “Simon Legree la Ballet Instructor” put the class through Arabesques, Pliés and other Baryshnikov-isms, Angela saw I was reading from Galatians. One observation led to others [...]
Joe’s parents believe women should work only at home, so his father worked long hours at his job while his mother did all the housework. Susan’s parents shared housekeeping tasks because they both worked outside the home much of her growing-up years. Susan thought it normal that husbands do a fair share of work at [...]
If he had said so a few years ago, I would’ve smiled and nodded. Today, however, I blinked, smiled sweetly and asked my friend to explain. Bart (not his real name) was telling me about his role as “family priest.” I told him why I disagreed. Now, I like Bart. He’s a well-spoken, gregarious fifty-something [...]
